Tagged: Phil Spencer

As a nation we have over 7.3 billion pounds worth of unloved, unused gadgets, items that are just stuff in our homes, we have literally ‘stuff overload’ and now most of us think that our houses are too small.

In fact, a whopping 10 million of us reckon our family homes aren’t big enough, and if there’s one thing our stuff needs it’s space and that’s fast becoming a rare commodity these days.

Across the UK we have a vast legacy of homes, but they were built at different times and for different ways of living.

With around 2,000 sq ft to live in, the Georgian’s had family living politely sewn up, these houses were designed to impress.

Let’s compare one of these houses with a near neighbour, the Victorian’s. With 1500 sq ft it’s also a good sized family home, the Victorian’s never wanted for space with their odds and ends, but to be fair they didn’t have much.

Fast forward over a hundred years and home building is a very different story. In the 1980’s we forgot all about space and you can now get a newly built family home for 900 st ft, that is half the size of what it was years gone by.

So giving our love of stuff and our shrinking houses it’s more important than ever to keep our clutter in check.

Back in the 1950’s a tidy home was the ultimate status symbol, we spent 50 hours a week keeping things pristine and never missed an annual spring clean.

But today the claws of consumerism have taken hold, and cleaning is the least of our worries. All to often our homes can look a bit like a bomb site, we’ve accumulated so much stuff that our groaning houses are starting to effect the way that we live.

So if the things that you own are starting to own you, it’s time to declare war on your clutter.